Relates to prevailing wage requirements applicable to public works and certain construction projects performed under private contract and paid for with public funds.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7394
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to prevailing wage require-
ments applicable to public works and construction projects performed
under private contract
PURPOSE:
This legislation ensures that all public works construction projects
receiving state funding are subject to prevailing wage statutes.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends the definition of public works under subdivision 5 of
section 220 of labor law to include all fixed works constructed or
demolished by any public body funded by public funds. Public funds shall
incle any bonds, grants, loans, or any other state money.
Section 2. Amends the covered project definition in subdivision 1 and
paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 224-a of the labor law, by
removing the thirty percent requirement.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's prevailing wage statute, which went into effect in January
2022, requires that all private projects over $5 million must pay
prevailing wages to their construction workforce if they receive 30%
public funding. This law applies to projects financed through state
grants but does not apply to any state loans, and developers have found
this loophole as a way to bypass wage requirements. Since this law went
into effect, many projects have received a significant amount of state
dollars that were not subject to any requirements simply because there
is a repayment requirement. For example, a recent project at 475 Bay
Street in Staten Island avoided prevailing wage requirements despite
receiving a first mortgage loan of $99,865,000 from the New York State
Housing Finance Agency and an annual subsidy from the New York Empire
State Supportive Housing Initiative. Construction workers on these
substantial projects, such as 475 Bay Street, should be subject to the
requirements under the prevailing wage law since taxpayer dollars still
cover costs. This legislation gets rid of the state loan loophole.. It
ensures that all public works projects financed in whole or in part with
bonds, grants, loans, or other funds made available by or through the
State or any of its political subdivisions, must abide by the prevailing
wage statute.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024-2025: A.5006
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7394
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON, STECK, EPSTEIN, ROSEN-
THAL, FORREST, MAMDANI, CRUZ, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, JACKSON, BURDICK,
GALLAGHER, MITAYNES, LAVINE, KELLES, SEPTIMO, RIVERA, MEEKS, WALKER,
GIBBS, COOK, HEVESI, R. CARROLL, TAPIA, RAGA, SIMONE, ANDERSON, DAVI-
LA, ALVAREZ, GLICK, SHRESTHA, LEVENBERG, SHIMSKY, ZACCARO, ZINERMAN,
BRONSON, TAYLOR, HYNDMAN, CHANDLER-WATERMAN, BORES -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prevailing wage require-
ments applicable to public works and construction projects performed
under private contract
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 220 of the labor law is amended by
2 adding a new paragraph m to read as follows:
3 m. "Public works" shall mean all fixed works constructed or demolished
4 by any public body or paid for wholly or in part out of public funds.
5 "Public works" shall include all projects financed in whole or in part
6 with bonds, grants, loans, or other funds made available by or through
7 the state or any of its political subdivisions.
8 § 2. Subdivision 1 and paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 224-a
9 of the labor law, as added by section 1 of part FFF of chapter 58 of the
10 laws of 2020, are amended to read as follows:
11 1. Subject to the provisions of this section, each "covered project"
12 as defined in this section shall be subject to prevailing wage require-
13 ments in accordance with section two hundred twenty and two hundred
14 twenty-b of this article. A "covered project" shall mean construction
15 work done under contract which is paid for in whole or in part out of
16 public funds as such term is defined in this section [where the amount
17 of all such public funds, when aggregated, is at least thirty percent of
18 the total construction project costs and] where such project costs are
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09356-01-5
A. 7394 2
1 over five million dollars except as provided for by section two hundred
2 twenty-four-c of this article.
3 a. The payment of money, by a public entity, or a third party acting
4 on behalf of and for the benefit of a public entity, directly to or on
5 behalf of the contractor, subcontractor, developer or owner [that is not
6 subject to repayment];
7 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
